Bioshock The Collection - Review
It has been many a year since I stepped back beneath the waves into Rapture, or soared into the skies to Columbia, so getting the chance to review the games on Switch, was the perfect chance to do so. But after all this time, were the return trips worth it, or was it better to remain a fond memory.
The most memorable moment from the original game, came at the very end, so diving back into it, knowing the twist, meant I was able to see the game with new eyes all over again. Not because I had forgotten, but just seeing how much foreshadowing the game does, but regardless of that, it was still a fun experience. Bioshock 2 was a little different, not because of the playstyle, but the game is far more designed around choices that you make, which impact the ending you get. Bioshock Infinite was perhaps the most intriguing story, but also the most confusing and while playing it, I struggled to remember just how it ended, because of that confusion. Due to it being almost 10 years since Infinite released and longer for the others, it was nice to jump back into them and while most of the main story beats were standing out in my memory, there were still nice moments where I had forgotten about things, that I was surprised. While the first two games hold up pretty well, three sadly has some moments, especially in today’s world, that might seem a little out of place and like I said, it is the most confusing, but still tells a good tale.
The gameplay is the solid aspect here though, Bioshock as a series had always put gameplay at the front of everything, with the story driving you forward, the gameplay making it fun to push ahead. The power items, plasmids and tonics are still fun, though I would have liked to see a few modifications to the controls on them, and of course, being a Big Daddy is great still. Most of the gameplay revolved around combat, which is solid enough, there are some weird things with the controls, at least for me. When aiming, I found that the aiming was either too lose, or if adjust to firm, which took a lot of time to get used to and coming off Borderlands, was highlighted even more. Having a look for motion control aiming, I was a little annoyed that it is not present, not that it being absent is a bad thing, but almost every FPS game on Switch offers it, so not having the option here was weird. Once I adapted to the controls and got used to the aiming inconsistency, I was able to move on.
The biggest addition that Bioshock made, was with the addition of powers, labelled as Plasmids in Rapture and Tonics in Columbia, but more or less offering the same thing. These powers, which can be changed around, at whim in Infinite, via machines in the other, let you approach combat in any number of ways, something which is always fun to mess around with. There is a memory that I am sure anyone who played the first game will remember, shooting lightning from your hand, into the pool of water, even playing the game now, that was still just as fun. Because the powers can honestly change the combat up in ways that will vary for everyone, stating there is a combination that works best is hard to do, but that is why I like it so much. The freedom to make up your own path is great, this also works when it comes to hacking objects and solving puzzles, though there are less of those in Infinite, hacking is replaced by a tonic there after all. While it is easy to rush through and spam powers, in the hopes of taking down enemies with little effort, there is still a fine balance that you must keep and the challenge in achieving that, is just as fun now, as I was back then.
For all the good, the gameplay has one drawback and that honestly comes down to it being a collection, it is near identical across the games. The first one was an experience back in the day and people were not a fan of Bioshock 2, due to it feeling much the same and released so soon after the original. By the time Bioshock Infinite came around, there was a nice amount of space between them, but it changed enough to be different, playing three back to back, though, they feel much the same. Infinite changes things up enough, with its setting, characters and the addition of Elizabeth, to help it stand out some more, but there is still a sense of repetition playing them all at once, so space them out if you can.
On the other side is the performance, and I have to say, all three games run really well, while initial loads might seem long, they are still short and actually the longest in the game. Dying or transitioning to new areas, in any of the games, result in load times that easily fall to the shorter side of things, even the DLC, which can normally be longer than the main game, is still quite short. While Bioshock 1 and 2 run exceptionally smooth, Infinite does have moments where it struggles, these are not game breaking moments though and generally only occur when you are in the midst of a busy fight. Not busy in that you are shooting a lot, but where there are lots of enemies, so the boss fights don’t get to experience the issue, but even when the game does stutter there, it only lasts a little bit, before smoothing out. I have already touched upon the controls and the lack of motion, but they do offer up a host of control options, changing stick assignment, inverting them and even entirely new schemes, which are always nice touches.
Looking at the games presentation, there are some good things and some odd things, much like the performance and coincidentally, they are for the same games. Bioshock 1, with its art-deco style graphics, was very stylised back in the day and because of that, the game still looks really nice here, Bioshock 2 also has the same benefit. Infinite though, went for a slightly more realistic look, well as much as one can about a giant floating town in the sky and while it looks incredible most of the time, there are some odd scenes that make you stop and stare. Usually it is the lighting that stands out, but when you get up close to some character faces, they can appear janky and while not a big issue, it does stand out.
On the other side, the games audio is just solid across the board, from the haunting sounds of Rapture as it is succumbing to the pressures of both sea and man, to the sound of the wind as you zip around Columbia, suspended on a rail. All the dangerous enemies, Big Daddy’s, Big Sisters and Songbird still provide a sense of fear, as they wander pass or are hunting you down, the sounds are just that iconic. Voice work is still solid and while you can clearly hear an evolution of quality, that can be attributed to how the games present the audio, as in Bioshock 1, most of it is over radio, but in Infinite, it is in person. Being able to pick up audio logs in all three games, to help expand the world is nice, they sound good as well, I just you could stop them after they started playing, if you wanted to.
Bioshock Collection is incredible, not only do you get three great games, they are also amazing ports, each running smoothly, either docked or not. While Infinite is the roughest of the three, that could be attributed to the age, it is still a solid addition, the only issue can be, playing them all back to back, will likely give you fatigue, spacing them out will remove it. The only real question is deciding which one to play first.
The Score
9.5
Review code provided by 2K
The Pros
+Each game has been brought across with nary a problem between them
+The stories mostly hold up today and even knowing the big twists, are still fun to play
The Cons
+Infinite can chug at times, usually only if there is a lot of enemies on screen, but it still happens
+The lack of motion controls is odd, when the other 2K release from the same day, has it
